Lily of the Peaks
by reenakitty
Summary: Long after the clans have died out, the Tribe of Rushing Water still thrives in the mountains. But when a series of mysterious murders take place, the fragile stability of the Tribe is broken. And then there is Lily. Can she really be the answer to the Tribe's problems? NEVER TO BE FINISHED, SORRY.
1. The Black Wolf

Chapter 1

**Yayz! My first fic, and of course it's — you guessed it — a warriors one. Well, don't judge to harshly 'cause this isn't just my first fic, but it's kinda my first writing. Period. I mean I've done a couple essays for school before but. . . . well, whatever, I'm gonna quit boring you now :3**

**On to the story~**

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><p>Lily was completely relaxed as the world tilted before her. Her paws were planted right on the edge, and her claws curved out over the cliff.<p>

Wind whistled through Lily's pelt and stung her skin with cold, but it was worth it. The view spiraled down a thousand feet below her. The blue sky, the earthy smelling air, warning her of rain, and the tree tops of the forest oh-so far below her. It was glorious.

But it was not what was important. Lily turned away and padded softly to the rocky wall of the mountain. She crouched, waiting, thanking the mud in her pelt that camouflaged her from any possible enemies. Or any prey she would be lucky to find.

After a few moments, a small brown mouse scurried from a hole in the stone. It was scrawny and and frail, but it was something. Lily stood up straight, slowly, and crept forward silently, praying the mouse wouldn't hear her; because it most definitely couldn't see her, she thought.

But the mouse turned and looked almost nonchalantly at what was supposedly a rock wall, and squeaked, quickly attempting to dart back into its hole. Lily scrambled forward desperately, but the mouse was already disappearing into a crack in the stone.

She sighed and sheathed her claws.

_Another hungry night._

Well, it had seen her.

_Those darned eyes!_

Lily blinked her bright amber eyes and hissed in anger. She wished she could close them so they wouldn't be seen, but she had already tried one hunting trip. Lily had almost walked of a cliff on that occasion. She sighed again and started, as another mouse crossed her path. Lily's ears pricked, and she quickly ghosted towards it, without a sound, this time making sure her eyes were closed to mere golden slivers. She pressed herself to the cool stone below her, before pouncing, and killing the mouse with a quick bite.

Lily purred in triumph and set the mouse on the ground. She was thirsty. She walked over to a puddle of water and lapped a few mouthfuls before glancing down. She gasped and stared harder. Was that cat really her? Lily stared down at her reflection in dismay. There was a cat there, with strange eyes, a pelt that had hardened clumps of mud, and long fur sticking out every which way. She could never groom this much dirt out of her fur! She sighed. She would have to go clean herself in the stream. But it was so cold. . . .

Lily shook herself, trying to rid her pelt of as much mud as she could. She picked up the mouse she had dropped, and started walking. She quietly walked around a cliff face; there was a small shelf there that gave her a few mouse-lengths of clearance between the mountain wall, and thin air. Lily crept around the shelf, keeping her eyes straight forward, and barely twitching a whisker. She relaxed and gave a sigh of relief when the walkway widened out.

A stream gurgled in the distance, and Lily's sore pads started to feel even worse. The mud smeared on her pelt seemed to clog all of her senses, and Lily found herself running — and wincing when her grazed pads protested — to the source of the beautiful rushing sound that would clear her of the dirt and grime encrusted in her pelt. A familiar cliff rose into view and it took all of Lily's willpower to not hurl herself over the edge and into the water below as her pelt felt like it was crawling with insects. She had to remember that it was cold. She stopped and scrambled awkwardly down a side path, before rushing to the bank and freezing to a stand-still.

She lifted a paw and hovered it over the surface of the water, shivering at the freezing spray. It was nearly the time of frozen-water, and even if the water wasn't frozen, it was miserably _cold. _She bit her lip and thrust the paw into the silvery rush.

Pain burst forth from the paw up and through Lily's body, and she was frozen as needles of ice pierced her insides and her bones were gripped in frozen claws that dug in mercilessly—

Lily snatched her paw from the stream, snarling wordlessly.

"Oh, why didn't I just jump in and get it over with?" she growled softly to herself.

Lily shook her paw and crouched, screwing up her eyes and clenching her teeth, pinning her ears to the back of her head.

And then, cursing, she threw herself into the current and was submerged completely. Lily fought the instinct to wail in pain from the temperature, as she touched the bottom light as a feather. The stream was only a tail length deep. The cold was to great for words. Lily shivered violently. She felt herself go numb and held her breath. Then she writhed around blindly trying to rid herself of the mud. Lily couldn't tell though since her she couldn't feel her body. Growling inwardly she launched herself off the bottom to the surface for a second, then ducked under again and wiggled around some more. Satisfied that she was clean enough, the she-cat stood up in the water. It lapped around her neck, and how good the air felt! Like warm sweet breath, smelling of home, on her face.

Lily climbed weakly onto the bank, and started grooming her fur. Once again it was long and clear of dirt, free of the plastering mud. Her cream fur was long and sleek, her ginger patches showing clearly now. Its color was a bright white with ginger. She would look like the most gentle queen, if not for her eyes. They were striking in her features and shone with challenge. Lily was not one to mess with. Her eyes showed everyone that her gentle frame was still dangerous. Her gaze burned with a fire that warned everyone away. They were a deep amber, glinting with ferocity.

She padded over to a small gorse bush, and looked around warily. No one. Lily secured the mouse in her teeth again, and stepped under the gorse bush and down into a hole below. Deeper and deeper she went down into the darkness with nothing but her whiskers to guide her.

Then there was light. It spilled through a small crack in the tunnel roof, showing an underground den. There was a small dip of rock underneath a constant drip that held water, and a small amount of other things including a nest lined with gorse.

Lily put the mouse in a corner of the den, and spat its fur out of her mouth. She was not very hungry so she walked away from the prey and over the sandy rock. She then circled in the nest and lay down, expecting to not fall asleep for awhile. But drowsiness fell upon her almost immediately, and she fell into the world of dreams.

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><p>A lion roared in the distance.<p>

"Come to us Lily, you belong with us," the lion said. His voice was beautiful and smooth like honey, but it was filled with sadness; and something else that she couldn't place. "Please my child—"

Lily ran away from the source of the sound. Her instincts wanted to be near the lion, but it was all part of his plan. Her ancestors didn't want her! They detested her. They took everyone she loved away, and she must remember to honor the deceased ones memory and hate her ancestors for it. She sprinted away from the voice, and now she desperately wanted to never be near it.

"_Leave me alone!_"

The she-cat flew over the ground, but no, she was in the clouds. She bounded away from the lion leaping through the cottony whiteness. But she was she was sinking into the substance with every stride, then she was falling through it, Lily was spiraling towards the earth, like a commit, a falling star—

"_Lily!_" the lion roared, and there was pain in his beautiful voice. "Please!"

Lily's eyes flashed open and she writhed around screeching in terror, sure she was about to hit the ground and be obliterated by the force of her fall.

But she was laying on her back in her nest, completely safe.

Lily sat up and closed her eyes, willing her heart and mind to calm.

_It's alright_, she thought, _just a dream_. _But I'll have many more._

Lily blinked her eyes open, stood up and stretched, her claws unsheathing in front of her and scraping against the floor. She straightened up and jumped over to the water dip, as she called it, and shoved her way out of the tunnels and into the morning light.

It was cold. Lily shivered and crouched at the edge of the stream, lapping a few freezing mouthfuls. Even if it was cold, she had to keep her strength up. She padded to the mountain wall and observed it carefully.

_It's really steep, s_he thought warily. But she shook her head the instant it went through her mind.

Lily crouched and sprang onto the sheer rock wall, and started clawing her way up. She panted, trying to find pawholds. She scrambled up the rock until the edge was right above her. Lily grasped it with her claws and dragged herself onto the blissfully flat ground. She collapsed there, panting, until she felt her heart slow. Then she dragged herself to her paws and set off down a rocky slope that had a few pieces of sparse undergrowth every few tail lengths.

Today was a special day, for, every three sunrises, she would go and spy on the wildcats.

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><p>Lily traveled until the sun had almost relented to the moon. Darkness fell and she started to hear the thunder of endless water. She felt her lips curl into a smirk, and hurried forward silently.<p>

Lily felt like more shadow than cat, as she crept up to the waterfall. A small stream flowed from the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and bubbled only a few mouse lengths away, and she crept over until she could dip her paw in and scoop a small pawful of mud from the bottom. Lily then smeared the mud over her pelt until it was slick against her sides, and her white and ginger fur was not seen.

Then Lily waited. The moon rose until it was high above her. Her pelt started to itch, and Lily ground her teeth against the urge to scratch it. She wasn't sure whether she should sneak into the cave or not, but the decision was made for her.

A dark shape walked out from behind the water fall. It was an average sized white tom with bright blue eyes. Strange, he looked familiar somehow. She quickly closed her own eyes to the tiniest slits, lest he see them glowing in the shadows. He looked around warily and jumped onto a bolder and gazed up at the moon. Lily was puzzled. What in the stars was he doing? Moon gazing? What a beetle brain. She rolled her eyes — and her paw slipped from its careful position onto a twig, that snapped.

The tom's head whipped around to glare in her direction. His hackles rose and he unsheathed his claws. Lily also unsheathed hers, her heart beating with growing fear.

"Who's there?" he snarled, whipping his head around, looking for the enemy.

Lily stood frozen. What had she done? But then the tom's eyes widened in horror. He was staring at something above her. She, ever so slowly, looked up, and gasped at what she saw.

A huge black wolf was standing behind Lily. It towered over her, Its paws each as wide as her head, its jaws filled with huge razor-sharp teeth that glistened with saliva. A growl tore itself out of the wolf's throat as it gazed at the white tom with loathing. Then it launched itself over Lily and was on the tom in seconds.

Lily couldn't see the tom. he had disappeared under the wolf as the it snarled savagely. She was frozen as the tom screeched in agony, and then their was the sent of blood, and red covered the ground in every direction, and Lily raced away from the terror, to save herself.

Lily ran until she could barely feel her paws, and then threw herself down a rabbit burrow and wept, the cry of the white tom still ringing in her ears.

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><p>Lily awoke with tears still running down her face. She didn't know why she was weeping, because the strange moon-watching tom had no meaning for her. But just seeing a cat getting ripped apart like that. . . .<p>

Every shadow on the way bag to her den, seemed to hide the murderous wolf. Lily couldn't comprehend it, the wolves had always ignored the mountain cats. Unless perhaps a cat had gotten too close to their territory but that rarely happened. There had been a strong peace between the cats and the wolves. So why break it now? Lily had spied on the tribe ever since she had first seen them, and there was no talk of homicidal wolves. The wolves kept to themselves, and the cats the same. Why would this happen now?

Lily pondered this as she walked. Every thought was a question. How could this happen? Why has this happened? Are the gods punishing us, whatever they may be? Was a war starting? How was Lily going to fight this?

_No. I am _not_ going to fight this. It's not my problem._

But Lily felt hollow inside. Even if the Tribe was her enemy, they were fellow cats. She stole prey from them, played tricks on them, fought them on several occasions, but they were still united by blood. She would rather fight on their side than the wolves.

Or maybe she wouldn't have to fight any side. Maybe Lily could just be neutral and stay out of it.

But in her heart, Lily knew that she wouldn't stand for this. She wouldn't be the rogue that watched the fighting in the sidelines, in the shadows. In her heart, she knew she wanted to be in the thick of things, to fight for something. She couldn't watch other cats get the same treatment as the white tom. No, that was not going to happen.

The poor white tom! Lily had felt the urge to save him . . . she never wanted to save anyone, she was taught to value herself above others. And, true to her teachings, she had let the wolf slash the toms pelt into ribbons. And why was he so familiar? Lily closed her eyes and thought, trying to remember anything about the white tom...

And a small face popped into mind. A kits face young and full of life. A white tom, with big blue eyes and a sparkling smile.

Lily's eyes flashed open.

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><p><strong>Sooooo how did ya like it? Ill try to update once a week, and please review! this chapter was short and I'll have a longer one next time.<strong>

**R&R**

**~reenakitty**


	2. The Terrible Water

Chapter 2

**Hiya! Well I'm baaaack. And I got another chapter for y'all! Thank you so much for the reviews! They made my day. The faster you review the faster I write! The more you review the more ill write too! So keep them reviews looong.**

**I'll do review replies if you guys have any reviews that are long!**

**AAAAHHH! I totally forgot about the disclaimer: I DO NOT own Warriors, but I wish I did 'cause then I could go 'yeah, those cat books? Yeah I wrote 'em *waves hand like pshaw*' but I cant 'cause they're not mine :3**

**Enough chatta~**

**onto the story...**

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><p>The sky was dark. It seemed to reflect all that was going around Lily. The silence of the mountain was unbearable. It was the kind of silence that presses down on your eardrums, the kind of silence were you can hear a whisper a mile away. No prey rustled in the bushes, and the stream seemed to have lost its cheerful chatter. It flowed slowly, and was deathly silent.<p>

A storm was coming.

Lily smelled it in the air. Snow. Her ears pricked and she shivered, crouching. She straitened after a moment and continued walking on her way. The rock under her paws felt like cold, unforgiving ice, and pricked her pads with every step. She was going up a small slope that was covered in gravel.

Lightning flashed and Lily froze and pressed her belly to the ground. Her ears were back, and her eyes were pressed close. Rain and then snow, a deadly combination for a storm. She whimpered pitifully and then her eyes snapped open. She straitened, and her face bore a fierce snarl.

No weakness. She would die if she showed weakness. She had to be strong.

Lily hurried forward, her moment of braveness fading. Another flash of lightning. She reached the top of the slope and swallowed. A dark abyss yawned in front of her. She had jumped it countless times, but now it seemed to gape towards her, bigger, and more menacing than ever. It was going to swallow her whole, and then she would be no more, falling into an endless darkness.

_Beetle brain! It's not going to _eat_ you_. Lily thought. But doubt formed in her mind. It certainly_ looked _like the mouth of a monster.

She took a deep breath and crouched, focusing not on the cliff, but her desired destination. A flat, dusty stretch of rock in front of her. She stared at it, mesmerized almost, and unsheathed her claws. They scraped against the stone ground and, for a moment, the silence was broken. But then there was nothing. Lily's ears strained, trying to here any sounds. She tensed and sprang, her muscles straining, and she out stretched out her forelegs , her claws curving out as far as they would go, until they looked like small daggers.

Sun spilled from the clouds at that moment, and warm yellow light covered Lily as she arced over the gaping maw of a hole. Her fur rippled and flowed through the air like water, as she leaped like a leopard across the darkness.

But then the sun disappeared behind a cloud again, and thunder boomed. Lily fell toward the other side and her forelegs hit the edge of the stone, her body dangling over nothing. Her claws scrabbled painfully on the stone, trying to find anything to grip. Lily slid back slowly and she sung her claws into the unrelenting stone. She stopped sliding. Her claws had somehow found purchase on the edge. Her heart beat like a bird frantically. A chance! She dragged herself up inch by inch, until she could reach up a hind leg and yank herself up.

Lily collapsed onto the rock and closed her eyes breathing heavily. Her flank beat up and down with her racing heartbeat. She opened her eyes and the world spun around her,making her even more dizzy than she already was. Closing them again, she reached out with her awareness to see if she was hurt. Her claws seemed like they would fall out any second, and her muscles were sore; not to mention she was utterly exhausted.

After laying there for several minutes Lily dragged herself to her paws. She padded wearily around the familiar heart-stopping shelf, and over to her gorse bush. It looked small and scraggly in the half light, but she thought nothing had ever looked so beautiful. She rubbed against it absentmindedly and, earning several burrs in the process, ducked under its branches and into the tunnels.

Lily padded the distance to her den, and realized suddenly that she had arrived and the darkness hadn't changed. Judging from the smells she had just about walked into the water dip. She backed up hastily and looked around, seeing nothing but mere outlines in the thick shadows. Once her eyes had adjusted she looked up and saw the little crack in the earthy rock ceiling that usually produced light. But through it, the darkness in the den was about the same level outside. That was strange, but proved that a bad storm was coming.

Water would probably come through the crack while it rained, and then snow after. Lily rushed around preparing. There was a natural stairway of slabs of rock, to a small stone ledge with several cracks in the wall. The ledge was a couple tail lengths higher then the floor of the den and if water flooded the den and the tunnels were rained in, (that scenario had happened before) the ledge would be the only place in the den dry. She rushed around, collecting healing herbs and unceremoniously stuffing them into a crack on the ledge's wall. Then she grasped her nest materials in her mouth and dragged them up onto the ledge and arranged them quickly back into a nest. The last thing that had to be done was grab all the caught-prey and put it on the ledge. Lily looked around. Then she remembered that she couldn't see anything. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to taste the scents in the air. There was no warm prey smell. Lily groaned. She would have to go out in the terrible weather and hunt.

She practically ran out through the tunnels and shouldered her way from underneath the gorse bush. It was softly sprinkling and small drops of water landed on Lily's nose. She shook her head sharply, ridding it of water for a few seconds before the droplets landed there again. The sky was black and dark clouds swirled around, covering the moon. There was a light glow from under a particularly black cloud that indicated where its position was, but thee light was meager. There was no longer silence. Wind wailed through the She sighed and padded a short distance from her den entrance to continue hunting.

After a little while Lily had succeeded in killing two rabbits and an unfortunate crow. She made a couple of trips back to her den first dragging the crow and a rabbit, and then carrying an immense rabbit that she kept stumbling over. Then she went out and crouched just outside of the tunnel entrance, underneath the gorse bush.

Lily watched the rain. It formed and endless patter like the sound of thundering paw steps. It fell like a shower of beads from a necklace; getting harder and harder, until it was a thunderous wave of sound. The scene was almost pitch black, but she could see the endless crush of water as it streamed from the heavens. It was a mouse tail high by now, lapping at Lily's paws.

She backed up until she was right up against the trunk of the bush. She shivered violently from the wind and cold and curled up into a tight ball, laying her feathery tail on her nose. She watched the rain through slitted eyes.

Lily started to feel cold against her forepaws, they were the farthest away from the bush. She glanced down in puzzlement and gasped. There was a strange icy, slush under her paws. It was everywhere! She looked around in disgust and gazed down at her own pelt in dismay. It was covered in slush, but she hadn't noticed it since she had such thick fur. Her fur held in moisture like a sponge, and now she would be likely wet all night. She shook her pelt as hard as she could in the cramped space under the bush, and turned around disappearing down the hole behind her.

There was no hope now to wish for light, and Lily relied on smell to guide herself through the tunnels and into her den. She walked around and padded up the walk to the ledge and curled in her nest shivering. She burrowed her nose into the rabbit rabbit fur.

The patter of rain, and the cozy warmth of home soon lulled Lily to close her eyes, smile sleepily, and let the lapping warm black wave wash her into the land of dreams.

….

Blood. There was so much blood. Its sickening sweet stench filled the air. Lily was crouched, terrified, on a small craggy black rock. The rock was so small, she barely had enough room, and red was the only thing that was in every direction. She couldn't run anywhere. As far as the eye could see. Waves and waves of dark, hungry blood. It clogged all of her senses and she felt like she was choking on it. A small wave lapped at her paws, going back and forth, up and down... Lily watched mesmerized as the blood lapping hungrily at her paws. She stared harder and watched its movements. Slow and sluggish, creeping and waiting. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide; the blood of generations of dead felidae before her. The white tom flickered in the back of her mind. New blood had just been added to this vast ocean, and it was her fault.

Suddenly she realized that she did not feel the same. Then her mind registered that she was younger. Just a kit really. Her pelt was short and fluffy, like the down of a bird. She felt small, and her claws were shorter and tiny. She unsheathed them and grasped the rock firmly. She was swaying with fear and, if she was not careful, she would fall in and be swallowed by the terrible red sea.

And then there was the white tom beside her. He had a short snow-white pelt and his eyes were a bright blue. The rock was already so small that their pelts rubbed against each other and Lily's paws were shoved into the blood. It was warm and sticky, and She gasped trying to back out of it, but her back paws just sunk into the blood behind her. There was nowhere to go. He was also terrified looking. Lily wanted to scream that she was sorry for not saving him, but as the guilt washed over her, she was frozen in place; feeling as if the blood on her paws was really his.

"Were are we?" He whimpered, "what is this place? It smells like... like _death_." His whiskers quivered and he stared at her, wanting guidance.

But all Lily could do was stare back at the white tom, the one she knew as a kit, the one she saw get savaged by the wolf. The one she couldn't save.

But then both kits eyes were drawn to the death-filled ocean as the waves of blood parted, to expose more dark rough, blood-stained rock , the very same type of rock as the kits were standing on. An image flickered, and came to life on the rock. A white tom sitting on a boulder, gazing up at what, in his time, had been the moon. But now it was a moonless pitch black void. The young tom beside her stiffened.

"but that...t-that looks like..." He trailed off as his elder self noticed something in the edge of the scene. The older white tom snarled at it and she turned to see what it was.

Lily noticed herself, her real self, down crouching in the shadows at the edge of the scene. The white tom started snarling at her, and then there was the wolf; it was even worse than the first time she had seen it. It jumped over the elder Lily and started ripping apart the elder white tom.

"Wait! Stop! That's you down there! With _me_!Save me! _Save me_!"The white kit wailed at her. But suddenly the image was gone, and the kit beside her was the adult white tom. But he was covered in ghastly wounds. And blood. He was so terrible looking, and the smell of ripped flesh got stronger. There was deep gashes on his sides, back, and legs. But nothing could compare to his chest. It was covered in huge, gaping, bloody holes that glistened sickly in the light reflected from the terrible bloody ocean. One in particular that was on the center of his ripped-apart chest stood out. It was deeper then all the rest, and blood still dripped out and stained Lily's paws red. She retched and gagged and cried at the smell of death on him. I it was all her _fault_.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"_Why didn't you save me?_" His voice was like claws grating against stone.

Lily woke up, screeching, to darkness. The sound rebounded off the walls of her den and she stood with her fur standing on end and tail straight in the air until it stopped echoing through the tunnels. Slowly she let her muscles loosen and her fur flatten. There was nothing to see, because it was still completely dark. That was strange. Her instincts told her it was morning, and yet no light spilled through the crack in the ceiling.

She padded down the steps and jumped of the ledge, landing with a big splash in water. Lily floundered around, making a whole lot of splashing, until she found her feet and stood up soaking. The water lapped around her belly fur. It smelled quite fresh, meaning it had all come in with the rain, and it was so cold, meaning some snow was probably mixed in. Lily waded around exploring the now wet surroundings. Around where the crack in the ceiling was parallel to the floor, she found a small pile of snow. How it survived in the water she didn't know. She looked up straining her eyes to see the crack, but there was nothing there. She blinked and there was no difference in the light between closing her eyes and opening them. Snow must have filled in through the opening.

Lily felt a trill of fear. In what shape were the tunnels in? She bounded through the water as fast as she could in the general direction of the tunnels and felt along the wall. She found the entrance and felt inside it. It was about half way filled with water. Lily was horrified. She knew the layout of the tunnels as well as she knew her own paw. After the entrance, it sloped steeply downward meaning that the tunnels would be completely submerged until it started heading upwards again. It went downward for several tail lengths... She could never swim it. But if she didn't try, the food would run out in a while. She might not even have enough _air_. Lily shuddered and the water around her rippled.

She would have to swim eventually if the water didn't evaporate. Lily swallowed and waded to the ledge. Doubt curled through her mind as she lay down and buried herself in the rabbit fur of her nest. She wanted to be optimistic, but darkness was forever coiled in the back of her mind. How could she survive a swim like that? Swimming itself was bad enough, but swimming down a narrow tunnel for so long... she could drown _so easily_.

_Life is such a petty little thing_, Lily thought, _anything can take it. Already my mother, my father, my brother, and my nameless litter mates that didn't make it for even a day. They're all gone, and they're never coming back. Life is taken so easily as stalking a mouse. But I have to swim, or I'll just die of hunger or lack of air._

Lily pondered this without opening her eyes. She had to swim. She lifted her head, she had to do this while her strength was still at its prime. She stood up and walked over to the small caught-prey pile and picked up the crow delicately in her teeth. She carried over to her nest and sat down. Eating the crow in quick, delicate, bites; she closed her eyes and thought. She thought about her mother and father, she thought about her dear little brother and for a second his smiling cream furred face lit her mind. She thought of the white tom and she smiled sadly. At least if she died, she could tell him how sorry she was.

….

Over the next few hours, Lily prepared. In other words she ate and slept and did exorcises. She could think of noting else to keep her strength up. She limited how much prey she had so that she was agile, and stretched her muscles and practiced doing swimming motions through the air. And then she would will herself into unconsciousness so that her strength was up.

When she woke up at what she estimated as sunhigh, Lily prayed to her ancestors for the first time of her life. Suddenly an image flickered in he line of vision. A lion standing on a mountain peak. His mane rippled in the wind and sparkling sun as he smiled lovingly at her. And then the vision was gone. Lily stared longingly into darkness once more.

Ever so slowly, she stepped into the water and guided herself to the tunnel entrance. Then she breathed quietly and slowly. Then she took her first step into the deeper water. The bottom of the tunnel was more mud then dirt and it squelched around her paws. And yet, she walked deeper.

The tunnel roof was sharply slanted and was right in front of her face. There was no more air after this.

Lily thought of nothing but pushing forward. She took a deep breath and ducked under.

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><p><strong>Tadaaa! Cliffie! Well I'll try to get another chapter up soon...<strong>

**R&R**

**Shadowmist**


	3. The Deathly Admittence

Chapter 3

**Hiya! Well here's the third chapter of Lily of the Peaks! I've been busy with school and stuff for a while, so I haven't been writing much :( But now I'm fixing that! Stuff shall be revealed! Well, I was wondering if any of you guys- ha ha, as in maybe 2 reviewers- could help me come up with a few cool tribe names? This is in the future, so I need lots of new tribe names.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. But I do own Lily! :3**

**Review replies:**

**Niotpoda: Thank you for the compliments and advice! Eh, I should have gotten felicidal right O.O And the claws on rock thing was just something to show you all that Lily does have a playful side... even if it is when she's a bit delirious. Mary-sue hood? Sorry I don't know what that is but I got an idea. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Lyric the Kunoichi cat: I know you! Hmm... It'll come back to me in awhile. Thankies!**

**Flethflower: Cool name. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Enough chatter~**

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><p>Bubbles flew out of Lily's mouth and burst in front of her face. There went her last bit of air. She groaned inwardly, and blinked her eyes. The mud in the water was irritating them. She dug her claws yet farther into the slippery mud under her paws, as she started to drift upward again.<p>

She had to go down.

Clawing her way down the tunnel, her mind started to go blank. After a few minutes, nothing was on Lily's mind at all. It was a void, and all she could do was remember that there was something better down this wretched black hole. The currents tugged at her fur as she squelched her paw out of the filth and stretch it forward to take a step. Repeat with each of her paws. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Her lungs were screaming for air. She couldn't remember anything. She hesitatingly stepped forward, her eyes squeezed shut. What was she doing? This was beetle-brained! Lily suddenly realized that her paws had left the muddy tunnel floor and that her back was scraping against its ceiling. Clear enough in the head to realize that she was losing strength, she tried to paddle her way back down to the tunnel floor. But her feeble swipes continued to miss the rocky floor. Curving out her claws, she desperately attempted to grab hold of _anything_. But there was nothing to grab onto.

With a great surge of strength, Lily remembered that she needed to get out of the hole. And she couldn't go back, she had to go down. Down the wet tunnel. She shivered and the water around her rippled, soft against her long fur. If she couldn't get to the floor, she had to go on the ceiling. Flipping over so that her belly was pressed against the tunnel ceiling, she sunk her claws into mud. The ceiling didn't feel any different from the floor. Blood rushed to her head, and she lost the small sense of thought she had; her oxygen was all gone, and her throat was burning with need. White flashed across her closed eyes and Lily stretched out her forelegs and sunk her claws into the mud before them. She then stepped forward with each of her back legs.

Suddenly, she realized that she was just floating in the water. Neither the tunnel ceiling or floor were touching her. Lily's sore eyes opened and the murky water burned them. White spots flashed in front of her painful eyes and the thudding of her heart was loud in her ears. She crept forward feebly, and didn't even notice the tunnel curving upwards.

A deeper blackness then the water around Lily flooded her vision. There was no more air. No more life lines to hold onto. She closed her eyes and welcomed the soft dark wave that washed over her mind.

Lily floated toward the surface that she would never see.

….

"_No!_"

Lily's eyes snapped open. She gasped at what lay before her. It was the tunnels all right, but she could see _everything_. The whole world was unglorified until she saw for the first time in those dank, dark tunnels. Everything sparkled. The walls, the floor, the dancing currents of the lapping flood. Hidden lights sparkled in the darkness, shining with all the colors of the rainbow. Lily suddenly realized that she could see everywhere. In front of herself, to the sides- behind her. All at the same time. It was like staring through dragonfly eyes.

"No, no, _no_!"

Lily didn't need to turn to see the cat that spoke, but she swiveled in the unknown feline's direction anyway, off impulse. It was a blue-gray she-cat, with her bright blue eyes shining with wisdom and challenge. And pain. The she-cat had a downy looking short pelt, but it didn't hide the fitness of muscles underneath. This was a cat not to mess with.

This cat reminded her of someone...

This cat reminded Lily of herself.

"Not now! This wasn't supposed to happen! Bark, _how could you let this happen?_" She had stopped wailing now, and her voice bore a fierce growl.

Lily turned her attention to another cat before her. He was so majestic she couldn't imagine him as a plain cat. He had authority, and it shined in his golden eyes. His short white pelt with ginger splotches flashed in the darkness as he paced back and forth. Suddenly, he flickered and Lily saw a tall lion with the cat's golden eyes in his place. And then there was a white tom, and her dream lion was gone. Bark had a dull glow surrounding him, while the she-cat had stars in her pelt. Such a curious thing to see stars in one's pelt, but Lily thought nothing of it at the time.

"Bluestar, I... I'm sorry." He said, hanging his head.

Bluestar's snarl fell and now she looked only sad. " No, this was not supposed to happen. The Tribe's fate is in her paws, though she does not know it. She cannot die now." She said it with such finality that Lily could be sure that what she said was true. Bluestar drew herself up to her full height and gazed down at something in the water sadly.

Lily had been so focused on the conversation that she hadn't seen. There was a patch of horrifyingly familiar white fur with ginger patches in the water. It was the exact color of Bark's, but longer. What scared Lily were the eyes. Half closed golden eyes that stared without seeing.

Crouching down at the edge of the water, Bluestar closed her eyes. A great silence filled the cave, the water stopped lapping, and no one breathed. She started chanting in a strange tongue, not known to Lily. The very air grew still and it was as if time stopped. Each hair on Lily's spirit pelt was pricked and still.

Bark was the only one that moved. But it seemed as if he was struggling through mud, his moves slow and sluggish in the still air.

"No... Bluestar... can't... exhaust... you... mustn't... bring... back...dead..." He gasped before closing his eyes and becoming silent and still as Bluestar kept up her odd chant. The strange song became louder, and after a few minutes she yowled the strange words through the tunnels. But they did not echo.

Then the world around Lily began to fade. As Bluestar collapsed, Bark was free of the spell and rushed over to her.

"Mother." He whispered softly. Lapping at her ears like a kit.

To Lily's relief, Bluestar chuckled softly and raised her head. "I am not your mother, child." She whispered raspily.

"But you are the closest thing to a mother I have. You were the mother of my great, great- well it will take too long." He smiled through the tension that glinted in his eyes.

"You have my grand daughter's pelt," she said, smiling, "And so does your lovely daughter." She glanced at Lily's body. "She will wake up soon, and she must not see us. We should leave now."

"But you're so weak-"

"I will be fine."

And with that, Bluestar got up, and padded into the shadows, disappearing. But Bark stayed for a moment longer, walking over to Lily's body.

"You have a great destiny my daughter." He said. "I know you will do things beyond the power of the stars." And then he grasped her scruff in his teeth, and dragged her gently to the edge of the water. Then he licked her pelt dry, and stood. For a second, he looked right were the spirit of Lily was standing.

Lily felt wind in her fur, and the majestic lion stood before her. Never once did she realize he was her father.

"I'm proud of you."

And then, for the second time, everything went black.

….

Grass tickled Lily's nose. She felt sun on her pelt, and soft moss underneath. Never had she been so _warm_. Smiling without opening her eyes, she stretched her forelegs in to the air above her, curving out her claws in a luxurious stretch. Then she flopped them back down, turning onto her side for more comfort.

Lily opened her eyes lazily, and then they flashed open fully to shine with awe. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. She was in a small hollow surrounded by smooth stone walls. Within it, there was a breathtaking meadow. Lily had never seen anything so green in her life. The short grass swayed in a light playful breeze, patches of wildflowers peaking up out of the green every few tail lengths. The sun sparkled down from a bright blue sky, empty of clouds. The mountains had never been this warm, and Lily did not recognize the place.

She immediately got up to explore. The grass was soft and cool beneath her pads, very unlike icy hard stone. She took much more time than she needed to rolling and running around just to get used to its feather-light feel. There wasn't much underbrush in the meadow, so Lily could just look around and see if there was anything else in the hollow. But there was one bush, with thick glossy leaves in one corner. It smelled so strongly that, when she went up to take a closer look, she had to wrinkle her nose and screw up her eyes against the stench. Sniffing one of the leaves, she shook her head violently and quickly ducked under it to be confronted by light. There was a small tunnel beneath the bush that led out of the hollow.

Making quick work of the tunnel, she trotted out and into the light. There was a rocky stretch of stone until it dropped away at a cliff. Lily was used to cliffs, so she walked over and looked down. The view spiraled so far she could only see a small sparkling river thin as a whisker below. It was a bit colder here than the hollow, but still much warmer than _her_ mountains. She backed away from the edge until she could safely turn around. There was a small pool that she hadn't noticed before. It looked clean, so she padded forward to take a drink.

Just as she finished lapping up a few mouthfuls, Lily looked up and saw an image flickering on the surface. She leaned forward to take a better look. It was a cat. Not just any cat.

It was Lily's mother.

"Mother!" She yowled, darting forward so that she was running through the water. Splashing around she rushed to the center of the pool were her mother's picture was. The water was much deeper than she thought, and she had to strain her neck to stop from going under.

"Mother!" She yowled again, yet this time it was more like a gurgle since water was flooding her mouth. Before she could even react, the mountain pool wasn't there any longer.

Lily's mother was laying before her. She was young and beautiful, not having any creasing lines of anxiety on her face. She had a long chocolate colored pelt with black tabby markings and a delicate white chest and face. Bark sat beside her, purring as he looked down at the small scraps of fur nestled in the curve of his mate's chest. The two kits had his pelt of creamy white, but the smaller one, who was obviously a she-cat, had her father's ginger patches in her mother's long silky fur.. They were on a small rocky ledge with another cliff on one side.

Lily stared at her younger self in wonder. The little Lily yawned showing tiny thorn-sharp teeth. Bark swept his tail around his small family and stared at them with soft, love-filled eyes.

"They've only been in our life for a few days, and already I can't bear to live without them." He sighed, and smiled. "They're so beautiful. What shall we name them, Star?"

Star turned her gaze away for a few seconds, embarrassed. "I've kind of already picked out names... If they're okay with you?" Bark nodded eagerly and she continued. "... The small she-cat could be Lily, and the tom could be Thorn?"

"Those are wonderful names." He nuzzled her neck, purring.

The little happy family lay curled up together for a few moments. And then an eagle burst from the sky. It screeched and dove at the cats. Everything happened so quickly. It spread its claws and tried to snatch up Star. But Bark leaped on it caterwauling and clawing it away from her.

Its claws latched onto Bark instead.

He was not leaving without a fight. He hissed and spat trying to make the eagle let the go of its grip on his shoulders, but the eagle wouldn't relent, and flew with Bark in its clutches over the edge of the cliff and into the open air. Bark was still bravely trying to fight, but the fear and pain were real in his eyes.

With a fierce yowl, he awkwardly sunk his claws into the eagle's foot. It squawked loudly and dropped Bark. He fell twisting blindly into nothingness.

The terrible sight faded, and all Lily could hear was her mother screaming in fear for Bark.

OoooO

The picture dissolved rapidly into a million pieces. Then it spiraled away into nothingness, leaving a blank expanse of white. It stretched into all directions. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing. It was like the stars had decided to blanket the world in untouchable, tasteless, odorless, snow. Everything was blank. Lily blinked, staring at the immense nothing around her. There was something in the distance moving towards her. A speck of brown making its uneven way through the blankness. But it wasn't blank anymore.

The world formed around her. Lily's mother was the dot in the distance, and she was now close enough to get a good look at. Star didn't look well. Bark's violent fall from the cliff had taken its toll on more than just him. She had creases of worry around her eyes as she crawled forward quickly, her belly pressed close to the ground. The snow covering it must have been cold, but Lily couldn't feel it. Star's once beautiful pelt was now dull and matted, and her eyes sparkled no longer. They darted around in constant terror, but immediately filled with determination every time they fixed on the scrawny kit before her.

The little Lily was too small for her age, her bones sticking out and her long white and ginger fur plastered against her sides. She was shivering and mewling pitifully, obviously exhausted. Thorn was missing from the scene.

"M-mother.. how much farther?" The Lily-kit gasped, "I'm so tired. I wanna stop."

But Star would not relent. She ignored her question, and grasped the Lily-kit's scruff and lifted her over a particularly high snow drift. She just swung from Star's jaws limply, her eyes closed. She looked like a mouse.

"We have to keep going." Star said after letting Lily down and nudging her forward with her nose. "We're going to get your brother."

The pair continued through the thickening snow. A strange shape was forming in the distance. It was tall and looked almost like an immensely thick tree. It was a twoleg nest, made out of roughly cut tree-trunks. There were square holes in the walls covered with clear shiny stuff, and glared with harsh yellow light; another hole in the top of the nest had smoke spewing out of it. It looked horrible. All kinds of torture could happen in that place.

Star was carrying the kit-Lily by the scruff again. She dropped her down under a small leafless bush growing near the outside wall of the nest.

"Now you stay here, and I will be out in a while with your brother; and if anything goes wrong, you must run away as fast as you can, do you understand?"

"I understand... but promise me nothing will go wrong!" the kit Lily wailed. Star didn't answer, but curved herself around the tiny she-cat. It looked strangely_ final_. But then Star untwisted around her and touched the kit Lily's nose with her own tenderly; and then she turned around and ran to one of the holes in the wall. The shiny stuff was broken there and she slid through the hole, almost scraping her back against the dangerous broken points. And then she was gone.

Lily turned to her kit self, wanting to comfort the terrified scrap of fur, but knowing she couldn't. The kit stood under the bush, staring at nothing. Muffled yowls and crashes could be heard from inside the nest, and all Lily could do was guess at what was happening.

Suddenly the swinging entrance flap burst open and Star hurtled out like a comet, a terrified and thin Thorn swing from her jaws. He was smaller than even the kit -Lily, he obviously hadn't had any nourishment since the twoleg had captured him. Star was running for her life, and it was shining in her eyes.

It had all gone wrong.

Star's eyes were screaming at the kit Lily to run, but she immediately ran forward from under the bush to her mother, growling. A tall, yowling twoleg clambered clumsily to the entrance flap, waving a long stick in his huge pink paws. Even though Lily hadn't known at the time, she did now. It was a firestick, it could kill any animal with just one shot. The twoleg bellowed in anger and launched a black pellet from the firestick at Star. Fortunately, it missed. But he launched again and again, one explosive crack after another, whizzing closer and closer to each of the cats. Star saw what was going to happen before the kit Lily did. The twoleg launched one more black pellet out of the firestick right at the kit-Lily. Lily screamed at her smaller self to runaway, but the cats of the past couldn't hear her.

Star dropped Thorn and leaped in front of Lily, her body shielding her for the one precious moment that saved her life. The black pellet hit Star in the side as she leaped into its path and there was an explosion of red. Star was thrown back and landed with a dull thud on the snow covered stone, rolling for a few tail lengths before stopping. A trail of blood was smeared on the ground, and the twoleg gave a satisfied nod before yelling something into the dark and slamming the entrance flap.

The kit-Lily was laying on the ground in a pool of her mother's blood. She slowly struggled to her feet, and staggered to were her mother lay. There was a huge open gash in her belly not unlike the white tom's. It still poured blood, staining the snow around her red. The kit Lily wailed when she saw. Thorn dragged himself over to were they both lay before collapsing in utter grief, sobbing uncontrollably. The kit-Lily shoved her nose into Star's fur, shaking.

"_Hush little one._"

The kit lifted her head when she heard. She looked up and saw to her relief that Star had her eyes half open. Thorn scooted closer so that he was snuggled in the curve of her belly. Soon his pelt was soaked with blood.

"You're going to be okay Mother."The kit-Lily said strongly, "you'll be fine."

But Star didn't answer, and her lifeblood was pouring out over the stone. Lily-kit struggled to stay calm, but her mother was hungry and weak with all of that blood on the rocks spilled. There was no hope.

"Don't leave me Mother. I need you." Lily-kit whispered brokenly.

"It won't be for forever. I will be waiting." And for the first time in moons, her eyes sparkled softly. "Stay strong Thorn. Protect your sister. And Lily, don't give up. I will wait for you forever."

Lily sniffled and stared at her mother, not answering. She wordlessly pressed her forehead into Star's chest, hearing her uneven heartbeat.

"I love you mother." Lily whispered.

"I love you too, mother!" Thorn croaked, sniffling.

"I love you both." Her heartbeat was slower, and even less even. It fluttered desperately towards its last beats.

"Is that you Bark...?"

The kit-Lily lifted her head as she felt Star's heart stop. She snuggled next to her brother and lay her head down on Star's still-warm belly.

OoooO

Everything was gone. Lily watched with dull eyes as her brother was captured. The past-Lily, who was now six moons old, screamed in terror as Thorn was snatched up in the jaws of a huge russet colored rogue. The rogue grinned evilly through his mouthful of kit, and dashed out of the rabbit burrow the kits had been hiding in. She never did see her brother again.

Lily had watched all the cats she had loved die. All over again. She had had enough.

Throwing herself into the whiteness all around her, she screeched and cried and yelled her pain to the nothingness. Her misery was to much to hold. If she tried, she would explode. It was too much to bear. She wanted out of this terrible, white, death-filled hell. She couldn't bear to see the cats she loved die over and over again. She opened her heart so little, and it was torn out every time. It bled into the void of her mind, making everything seem terrible. She ran around until she felt her muscles give out, she collapsed onto the white. It was everything and it was nothing. It wasn't hot, cold, hard, soft, smooth, or rough- it was just a flat expanse of nothing were you couldn't get lost. But you couldn't find anything either.

* * *

><p><strong>There it is! How'd ya like it? Better? Worse? YOU MUST TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS. I just got an amazing idea for another fiction! I know it's still early in Lily of the Peaks, but I know what I shall write after! :3<strong>

**Cheerio,**

**R&R**

**Shadowmist**


	4. The Tabby Shecat

**Hiya readers! Well here's the fourth chappy! **

**Lily's appearance has been changed, somewhat. I had no idea what-so-ever what a 'Mary Sue' was, but now I do; and I realized that I was making Lily exactly like that. Now, she's hopefully less of a beautiful supernatural being that everyone loves XD**

**New appearance: Small long furred she-cat, with a white pelt patched with ginger. Amber eyes.**

**Sorry, I'm not doing review replies today! If you guys want them, you could ask me; but right now, I don't feel that we are terribly attached to them, and they take a long time that I could be writing faster in :P**

**My writing style has changed dramatically. Hopefully, it is for the better; and that it is more entertaining, and not going on and on and on and on... When I reread the earlier chapters of this story, I realized that it was okay, but not good. After writing those two one-shots, and 'A Paw In Each World', my writing got better. Those stories have waaaay better writing than this one ^^ Well, the first couple pages of this chapter are in the bad writing because I wrote them a month ago, but it will steadily grow better. I promizess D:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

**Hope you enjoy~**

* * *

><p>Lily's fur was growing steadily colder. She didn't even open her eyes; she was done with hope. But the cold was getting more intense. <em>It was too cold<em>. The frigid air froze every piece of fur on her pelt, and chilled her whiskers. Her eyelids twitched and Lily squeezed them together, not letting them open in curiosity. A ragged wind blew through her fur and stung her pelt, biting across her back. The smooth ground underneath her was suddenly feeling very rough, and Lily wondered how she had ever thought it was smooth. A sharp point was pressed into her belly, and she shifted her weight so that it didn't hurt her. Why was there sharp rocks in the Nothingness? The ground was rough an cold, and, now that she thought of it, _wet_.

Totally against her will, Lily opened her eyes. She was in the tunnels! Her fur was damp and a great tangled mess, and the rock was wet and cold beneath her paws, but it was good to be alive. The wind she felt must have swept her into the awakening world.

The darkness pressed down on her, and Lily was confused. There should have been light in this part of the tunnels now. She opened her mouth to taste the air. Water, mud, wet rock. She scanned the mess of scents deeper to find the location of things in the thick shadows. The loped tunnels were to her right, and were filled with lapping water. She had swam the tunnels.

Then Lily remembered death. How the water had closed over her head, blocking everything real from he mind. And those scary encounters with all of her loved ones dying, over and over again. She shivered.

The tunnels were still dark, and Lily wondered why. She started off in the direction of the surface, leaping through the twists and turns.

She stopped, this was were the entrance was supposed to be. But there was still no light. She padded forward cautiously, scared of what might happen; cold was radiating from somewhere in front of her. She stuck out a paw warily and felt nothing. Growling in annoyance, she leaped forward to confront whatever was blocking the light. Cold lased through her senses as she jumped into a solid wall of snow. It fluffed out around her and tugged at her whiskers as she gave a yell of surprise before falling into the pile. After it stopped moving, she clawed her way to the surface of the pile and snarled out her irritation.

She spat out a mouthful of frost before standing up, shaking the cold lumps out of her fur and jumping forward through the tunnel. Her earlier jump into the snow had dislodged it so much that it was spilled everywhere for several tail-lengths, smothering the rocky tunnel floor and leaving deep piles of cold. Lily sunk into the snow where she landed, sinking until the snow was at her neck. She lept forward again only to find that she sunk just as deep where she landed. Continuing on, she felt the snow thickening, and deepening. Now when she jumped, she landed in the snow completely submerged in the cold wet flakes. Deeper and deeper it got, until Lily found she could go on no more. Another wall of snow blocked her way. She lay down on the flattened snow behind her in exhaustion, breathing fast and heavily.

She stood up after a few moments and clawed the wall in front of her. Her claws left deep gouges in the snow, for it was soft. She clawed deeper, until she was tunneling through the mass of white cold. She found that the darkness was giving, and there was some yellow light shining through the snow. She urged her claws faster, ripping out pawfuls of snow until she tumbled out of the tunnels and into bright sunlight. It streamed from the heavens in what was supposed to be soft gentle rays, but to Lily, they felt like fire. Her eyes burned ferociously, and she yowled in pain as her face seared. Bright sunlight after darkness was not a good combination. The light burned so badly that she cowered on the ground and whimpered until the pain faded away. Then she squinted into the sky, wanting to see it after so long in the tunnels. The sun glared down at her, its breathtaking rays making Lily cry for pain and joy at the same time.

_I really, really missed you Sun. Almost as much as I miss the __moon... _Lily thought blearily. She flopped down on her side and soaked up the light, enjoying the warmth. The rock and snow underneath her fur felt like ice as the light on her pelt felt like fire. Such a strange combination, but it felt slightly comforting. She closed her eyes lazily and flopped her head back, forgetting about the white tom, Bark, Star, Bluestar, everything.

The light of the sun warmed her body, and the sharp mountain air was making her spinning head clearer and clearer every second. After awhile, it was impossible not to think. She remembered the white tom's death, Star's death, Bark's, and she remembered the strange meeting over her own corpse. Who was Bluestar? What did she mean Lily had the Tribe's fate in her paws? How could this be possible? How had she brought Lily back to life? Everything started to swirl around in her head again, and it began to ache.

She sighed and stood up, shaking her pelt before leaning down to groom it thoroughly. She glanced at the gorse bush that covered the tunnels. Water and snow filled the only way to her den. She wouldn't be going back in there for awhile.

….

After laying down in the sun a bit more she got up and headed to her little mountain stream. She looked down on it and stared in surprise. It was completely solid, a few brown leaves frozen in place under the icy surface.

She dabbed a paw down and felt the ice, testing a bit of her weight on it. It held surprisingly, and she dropped her other paw to the ice. Soon she was standing on the solid stream, marveling at how she didn't fall through. She looked down the stream, staring as she trailed her eyes down its winding path, and finally where it disappeared behind a wall of stone in the far off distance. She looked the other way, and saw it disappear at the horizon.

She padded up the frozen water, in the direction of the wildcat's camp. The sun was sinking lower, ducking behind the stream almost. She continued walking, feeling the ice under her pads; it was cold and hard, leaving her pads numb. She stopped and lifted up her foreleg, surprised at the water that dripped down it in icy droplets. The warmth of her pads must have melted the ice the slightest bit when she set her paws down with the weight of her body.

After the small discovery, she would lean down and lick her wet pads whenever she was thirsty. After doing this for awhile, she sheepishly realized that she could simply lick the ice under her paws. The water was cooler and fresher this way, without the dirt on her pads getting mixed in. Her paws drew steadily colder, the ice almost burning now. She lifted one up and hissed, annoyed. But she stopped.

_To think I would be irritated by the small thing of cold. I've died already, and watched several others meet their demise as well. How can I still feel so annoyed at these insignificant things? _She sighed quietly, lashing her tail at the cold. She would just have to live with it.

Lily didn't know quite what she was looking for. All she knew was that she wanted to go to wherever she was going undetected. One way to not be as traceable was to smear mud in her pelt; but, as all the water was frozen, the next best thing was to walk on the solid stream. Her paws were tingling with cold now, and she decided that she should give them a break and walk on the stone beside the stream. She hopped onto the white-frosted dirt of the bank, trembling with cold. She lifted up her right forepaw and licked the pad softly, trying to bring the feeling back. But her paws were as numb as could be, so she started trotting through the thin snow back on her way. The sun had almost disappeared behind the snowy stone. The frosted rocky mountain ahead looked pink, as the rosy glow of the sun's last gentle rays dappled the ground before her. The sun sparkled dazzlingly. She stopped and looked at the sky, seeing the stars appearing around the orange light. The moon shone down on her, almost brighter than the fading sun. She sighed; dusk had fallen and she still wasn't sure where she was headed. The sun finally disappeared, relenting to the glowing white moon.

Lily started walking faster, wary of the quickly cooling air and the dark shadows. The wolves could be anywhere. They could kill her just like they had brutally killed the white tom. She shuddered at the thought, and winced as the night air bit her skin through her thick fur. She ruffled it, trying to fluff up her pelt against the freezing cold, but it didn't help much. Leaf-bare was harsh at night in the mountains.

She trudged through the snow on the side of the stream, the sky darkening until she could barely see anything in front of her. The snow didn't sparkle any longer, and she walked on, almost going head-first through snow drifts that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

She had started to go faster when a strange scent reached her nose. She opened her mouth to taste the air, and gagged at the stench that hit the roof of her mouth. Salt and snow, mixed together, with a sweet rusty tang.

Blood.

But it wasn't just blood. It was the smell of . . . Lily thought hard, racking her mind for the right smell. It was blood, mixed with . . . frost. Like cold, _frozen_ blood. Her eyes widened with horror and her breath started too quicken, until it was coming out with short gasps. She pressed her belly into the snow, and crept forward softly. The frost crackled under her paws, and she winced at the sound; wishing that she could be more silent. The scent of frozen blood grew stronger, and her heartbeat went faster an faster until she felt as if it would burst from her chest.

Even though the scent of the blood was almost overwhelming now, there were no sounds at all. There was nothing, nothing but the stench of death. It was sweet and dark, curling through the air like thick smoke that would smother you in a second. Lily trembled, not feeling the cold anymore as her heart pounded in anticipation. Her breath quickened further, and she saw a strange clump of grass in front of her. It was covered in a thick layer of frost, but that was not what scared Lily. Splattered across it, was a liquid so dark of a red, she could barely see. But she knew what it was; the terrible, sweet scent told her as much.

She stopped at the huge clump of grass, swaying slightly as she saw the blood on the plants. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_What's behind there can't be as bad as the worst. I've seen the worst. _But there was a voice in the back of Lily's mind that asked if she really had.

She edged her way around the grass, her eyes narrowed in fear. The sight that met her was so terrible, that she caught her breath and suddenly found herself on the ground. She pressed her eyes closed and willed her breathing to slow. How could this happen? She willed herself not to vomit, and steeled herself. She slowly got back up to her paws without opening her eyes. She continued to breathe deeply before opening her eyes once more.

The tabby she-cat was stretched out on the ground as if she was sleeping, with each of her legs extended to their full length. Her eyes were wide and staring, and there was a look of mild surprise on her face. There was a single dark wound, stretching from her throat to her tail. She had been ripped almost in half, the gash too big to be made by the claws of a cat. The blood had long since poured around her to stain the frozen grass red. Her fur was frozen solid as well, explaining the frost-and-blood scent. Lily gasped a broken, cracked breath of the dark, frosty air. The tabby she-cat had been dead for awhile, by the looks of it, and she had been frozen stiff. The snow dusted the corpse's pelt, looking as if the sky themselves had sprinkled starlight on her. Lily gasped again, and started to cry; heartbroken, desperate sobs of terror and trauma. The finding of the tabby she-cat's body had shocked her deeply.

She collapsed on he ground, and cried herself to sleep; the frozen dead she-cat merely tail-lengths away.

She didn't see the two, huge, glowing eyes in the darkness. A feral growl came from the grasses, low and guttural, before the eyes vanished.

….

Lily felt strange. The grass tickled her ear tips, and she felt the sun on her pelt warm the frigid air. She took a shaky breath, wondering why she felt so broken, so desperate. She opened her eyes.

There was a pair of eyes staring back at her. Glazed, sightless, deep-brown eyes that were staring at her with shock. The cat's mouth was facing her, the jaws open. A trickle of red had dripped out of it, staining the grass a mouse-length in front of her face.

She scrambled backwards with a gasp, her eyes widening. The dead tabby she-cat was laying in front of her, and she remembered the shock of the night before. Lily stood for a moment, shocked, before shaking herself. She looked down at the she-cat in sorrow. Whatever creature that had committed this atrocity was a monster. She shuddered at the thought and looked at the ground around the body. The frozen grass had been disturbed, pushed up in every direction. The tabby she-cat's fur was littering the ground with some other fur. Dark, course, long, black fur.

A wolf's fur.

She backed away in terror, looking around again. There was nothing. The sun was shining down on her, and everything seemed peaceful besides the fact that there was a corpse in front of her. Her lip trembled, and she let a few tears go, as she watched the she-cat's frozen fur bend in the wind. She stepped forward slowly and closed the she-cat's eyes with the soft bottom of her paw. Then, she saw a yellow flower growing in a patch of frosty grass a couple of tail-lengths away. She grasped it in her teeth, and pulled, letting out a gasp as it gave way and fell softly into her jaws. Lily then lay it across the she-cat's side. She no longer felt scared, only the deep sorrow penetrating her heart. She swept her tail across the she-cat's flank in farewell before turning around.

She didn't look back as she walked away from the scene.

The grass crackled under her paws as she padded, her head down and her tail trailing across the sandy rock. The terrain was rough, clumps of grass and snow dotted her path, but mostly there was just cold, sandy, rock.

After awhile, she found the stream. She hadn't even noticed she had left it's side in her search for the frozen blood scent. She sighed at the thought, an shook it from her mind. She decided that she had given herself a break for long enough, and she lowered herself off the bank and onto the stream. The ice pricked her pads with cold, and she grimaced lifting up her paws slowly before setting them down in front of her. She grimaced; it would be a long time until she got used to walking on ice. But it covered up her scent, and that was what was important.

Something was in the distance. It was a loud thunder of noise, it sounded like . . . water. Rushing water. Her head shot up. _Rushing Water!_

She hurried forward, unfeeling to the ice underneath her paws anymore. She would know the sound of rushing water anywhere. After a few minutes of quickening her pace, she was flat out running; stretching her muscles as far as they would go, hearing her paws pounding on the ice. There was a small cracking sound, but she didn't register it at her frenzied pace. Suddenly, she was plunged into icy water, and she yelled in surprise as her head went under. Lily broke the surface, gasping and spluttering. In her running, she had hit the ice hard enough with her paws that it had broke. She shivered in the frigid water, and floundered to the side, where she pulled herself onto the cracked and splintered ice.

She trembled with cold for a few minutes, dragging herself onto the snowy bank and laying down. She closed her eyes as her sides heaved for breath and shivered violently, wave after wave of cold rushing back and forth through her senses. She gasped the now arm-feeling air and tried to sit up. Her whole body hurt from the tumble into the stream, and she was cold as ice.

_I shouldn't have run,_ she thought with a sigh, hunching her shoulders and fluffing out her wet fur. Her pelt had soaked up the water like a sponge, the long fur dripping with icy liquid. The breeze blustered over her, and she crouched; the breeze felt like huge biting winds now that she was wet. Lily tried to stop shivering, but it was no use as the cold wracked her body. She stood up and started walking, hoping that the movement of her muscles would warm her up. The shock of being plunged into the stream was slowly wearing off, and it felt like her heart was slowly finding its way back down into her chest. She shivered more and more as she walked on, and she felt the beginnings of a cold well up in her chests. She coughed, grimacing at the pain it gave her throat.

"_You're on Tribe territory!_"

Lily pressed her belly to the ground in shock, whipping her head around to gaze at six healthy cats. She didn't have the energy to run. The cat who had spoke was in front of the patrol. It was a large wiry black tom with bright, icy blue eyes; he was tall and had scars all down one side of his face. There was a hissing gray she-cat next to him, and a ginger tom on his other side. There were more cats behind him; all sounding either wary, or hostile. She crouched there, looking terrified.

The ginger tom pushed his way forward to stand in front of the black tom. The black tom hissed at him openly, but her just twitched his ears; and his gaze didn't move from Lily. "Why are you here?" His voice was tough and gravelly; he was obviously the eldest of the group.

Lily crouched in the same spot, her ears slowly flattening. The she-cat hissed at her again. "Rogue!" She spat.

Lily just crouched on the frozen, snowy, ground.

"Are you stealing prey?" The black tom had once more taken his place at the front of the patrol, "If you have, we'll rip your fur off!"

Lily didn't answer.

After yelling more insults, the tribe cats informed Lily that she would be taken back to see 'Stoneteller'. She just trembled in shock, unable to realize the facts: _She had been caught_. After all her parent's careful planning, she had let herself be seen. After everything she herself had worked for, it was all for nothing. It had all been in vain.

Lily's ears flattened.

The patrol surrounded her and told her to stand up. She obeyed, having no other option. The sound that she had heard had indeed been the waterfall, and she found that the frozen stream she had been following flowed right into the pool below it. The Tribe cats wordlessly led her down the path behind it, and into the cave. She knew it existed, in fact, she had snuck inside it before. The sound of rushing water echoed through the stone walls, and all the tribe cats that were inside turned to stare as the patrol returned. Lily wanted to melt into the rock and hide, but something caught her eyes.

In a shallow scoop of rock a few fox-lengths away, there was a tom. He was lying in the nest, his pelt plastered with herbs and staring at her like the rest of tribe. His bright blue eyes held surprise, and something else in their depths. Shock, recognition. Even underneath the herbs, his pelt was a blazing snow-white; and there was no mistaking his blue eyes. This just wasn't a white tom.

It was the white tom. The one she couldn't save.

The one that she had left for dead.

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><p><strong>Whaaaaaaaaa? ^^<strong>

** If you don't review, I'll throw Rebecca Black at you. **

** Kapeesh? :D**

** Meow for Now, and R&R!**

** ~Shadowmist**


	5. The Broken Emotions

**Rawr. I haz much to do. But I still find some time for writing :]**

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed! If you want review replies, you can review your request. Hint hint.**

**On with the story~**

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><p>The wind swirled through Lily's pelt, seemingly cleansing her body like there was cool rainwater trickling across her skin. She was in a field of long, swaying grass that brushed her bellyfur. The sky was a peachy orange, the sun a bright golden eye on the horizon.<p>

Lily smiled at the simple beauty of it all, as the smooth breeze flowed through her back fur again. Nothing was in sight, just waves and waves of golden-green grass stretching from every direction into the distance. Wispy clouds floated here and there in front of her gaze, but the sky was mostly bare as well. Nonetheless, it was as if a wordless contentment had washed itself over Lily with the flowing breeze. She felt utterly happy and complete in the soft field of grass.

She started to walk, as her still straightness had started to feel- not uncomfortable- but just_ off_. She started strolling through the flowing green, purring lightly as the grass swayed, running its silky fingers through her pelt. She couldn't describe the way she felt, it was just a mad contentment of being alive and well; a contentment of being _free_.

She kept up a decent pace, making sure to feel everything. The golden sun on her ears, the fast wind on her back, the soft grass on her pelt, the cool dirt under her paws; it was almost hard to keep up, to perceive it all at once, but in a way, it was easy and completely natural. She smiled at the simplicity of the entrancement.

The sun never seemed to move from its spot at the center of the sky, even though it seemed to Lily as if time was flying freely. The clouds went on swirling in her peripheral vision.

There was a noise in the distance; a strange noise, out of place in the beautiful, sunny field. It came out garbled and slow, sounding as if it were under water. Lily's feeling of contentment began to fade with the field of grass. The image was fuzzy now; almost unreal.

"Hey, you! Prisoner! Wake up!"

Lily blinked open her eyes to dark gray light. There was cold, hard rock underneath her pelt, and she wanted to fall back to sleep to see the beautiful field again. She groaned.

"Come on!" The voice insisted, and a paw prodded her back, "I don't have all day for you prisoners!"

She rolled over to face a small, gray tabby tom with yellow eyes. As he saw her looking, his ears flattened and he looked scared that she would murder him for a moment.

"How many prisoners have you actually had?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

The tom shivered and looked down, before his gaze hardened and he fluffed out his pelt in what was more fear than actual determination. "No questions!"

Her own ears flattened and she looked away. "Look, you guys just kidnapped me for almost no reason and you extract even the luxury of speaking from me?"

The tom looked down at his paws. "I don't make the rules, she-cat."

"My name's Lily." She said quietly.

"Well, it's not until Stoneteller says it is. " The tom meowed, and for once he sounded actually confident. Lily winced back visibly at his statement.

"I woke you up for a reason. . ." His brow furrowed in concentration, "Oh! Yes, if you want to make dirt, you must do so now."

She almost growled at this, but when he turned around promptly and started weaving his way through groups of cats, she reluctantly decided to listen to him. She followed the tom through a narrow tunnel until they crept out of a hole in the mountainside. The bright, raw sunlight was a lot after being inside the cave for so long. The tom showed her a place behind a large gorse bush.

When she was finished, the two weaved there way back to the main cave once more. Tribe members were chatting to each other like sparrows, their words bouncing off the walls like rushing water. She was immediately ushered back to her scoop in the ground where the tribe cats had ordered her to make her nest. It was farther back in the main cave, in a corner where the light was at its dimmest, and there was dust floating through the air.

Lily curled back up in her, cold, hard nest; trying to figure out what to do. She still couldn't quite perceive the fact that she had let herself be caught, and the shock from seeing the dead tabby she-cat hadn't yet worn off. She twitched her ears.

The tom had sat in front of her, glancing back over his shoulder at Lily every so often. His pelt was a light gray, riddled over top with black and darker gray stripes. His yellow eyes were large and pale, always seeming to glint with fear; he was crouched, his tail wrapped around his body.

She figured that a way to keep her mind off things and pass the time, was to talk. "What's your name?"

He glanced back at her, his eyes widening in terror. He looked around as if wanting to see whether or not she was addressing him, but the answer was clear as no one else was near the two. He swallowed. "Rock That Tumbles Down Mountainside."

Lily snorted. "How does everyone remember each other's names? They're too long."

He wouldn't meet her eyes, and looked at his paws. "We don't call each other by our whole names."

"Then what do you call each other by? Half of your names?"

His voice was trembling now. "I'm called Rock."

She sighed. They weren't getting anywhere.

"Er. . . What do you do in the Tribe, Rock?"

He swirled one paw around in the rock dust, keeping his gaze fixed on the spirals in the sand. "I'm a prey-hunter."

Lily was familiar with the ways of the Tribe, for she had spied on their conversations many times. "That's. . . cool." She felt her ears burning. They sat in silence for a moment, before Rock flattened his ears and turned around to face the cave again rather than the corner.

Lily lay her head on her paws and sighed. She decided to watch the cats as they went about their days. Several patrols left, some with large muscular cats, and others small and lithe like Rock. Several had both. She looked on as a dappled ginger she-cat with gray eyes herded her kits out of a side tunnel. They squealed and ran from their spots at her paws, rolling in the rock dust and batting at each other with tiny, thorn-sharp claws.

There was a pile of prey in the center of the cave, where several cats were grouped, chatting. Others were gathered at the sides of the cave, their heads bent together, their eyes darting around with tension. Even with all the hustle and bustle, a heavy air hung over the Tribe. Many cats were uneasy with each other, jumping and hissing at the slightest movements. Although they acted comfortable, there was a certain stiffness in their gates that suggested suspicion.

Something wasn't right.

The tension was suddenly unignorable. Lily's pelt stood up, her claws unsheathing. What was wrong with the Tribe? She wanted to sprint to the entrance, and throw herself into the icy pool under the waterfall outside.

"You!"

Lily mentally shook herself. There was a light brown-tabby she-cat in front of her. Her blue eyes glinted, and her lips were curled in a snarl. The she-cat stalked forward slowly, her unsheathed claws clinking softly against the ground.

"You think you can just steal our Tribe's prey, huh? Well you're _wrong!" _The she-cat hissed, her eyes flashing with malice. "You think you can just stroll right into our territory and see what happens? I'll show you what happens!" The she-cat crouched to spring, and Lily crouched on the tips of her paws, ready. She bared her teeth and the she-cat hissed.

"Stop!" A voice commanded. Lily turned around, her fur still bristling, to find a white tom. She sucked in a startled breath. It was _the_ white tom. Her gaze dropped to her paws, her pelt burning.

"What do you think you're doing, Flower? And you!" He hissed at Lily, "You shouldn't be fighting back after all that you've already done. You'll just get yourself into deeper trouble."

"We've been treating her like a welcomed guest!" Flower snarled, her eyes flashing murderously, "She needs to get a taste of what's coming for her."

"Stoneteller will decide what will be done with the prisoner."

A lesser cat would have quailed under the fiery look that the she-cat flashed at him, but he held his head high. Flower than hissed at Lily for good measure, before slinking away, her ears flattened in displeasure.

"Thank you-" Lily started, but the tom's snarl broke her off. She stared at him in dismay.

"Don't thank me! I just want to keep the peace. You, you should be ashamed! You've stolen prey, crossed our borders, and I know you're in league with the Wolves!" He hissed.

Lily stared at him, at loss for words. In league with the_ Wolves_? Her ears flattened. Was he beetle-brained?

"Look, I know I've done some horrible things, but I would never be with a creature as low as to kill." She said quietly. Her tail had floated to the ground, where it now lay in the dust. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked the white tom in the eye. "I'm just as terrified as you are."

"Yeah right!" The tom spat, his eyes flashing dangerously. Lily flinched, crouching on the ground. The white tom stalked away, his tail lashing back and forth in agitation. She looked around to find that Rock had been cowering in the corner behind her during the whole confrontation. She sighed quietly. Already she had earned the hatred of two cats in the Tribe, and there were probably many more that despised her. She shook her head sharply. Why should she care? She herself hated the Tribe! She had done almost everything the white tom had said, sneaking onto their territory, across their borders, stealing there prey, mocking them.

Lily turned over onto her side, so that she had her back facing the inside of the main cave. The tom's accusations had frightened her. She didn't feel right; she had never cared what anyone thought of her, but, then again, she had never really socialized with many cats before. Just her mother and her brother; she hadn't even met her own father. She had seen and talked to a few rogues like herself traveling through the mountainside before, but none of them had stayed. The cats had just headed down from the rocky hills, and into the lush forests below. She had never understood how they could leave such a beautiful place like the mountains.

Lily suddenly wondered what they had thought of her. A strange, uneducated, roaming she-cat that always threw caution to the winds. She had probably seemed like a weed in a field of wildflowers. Strange, something to be steered clear of. Her fur ruffled at the thought, and she shuffled her paws unconsciously. She tried to make herself not care; to just forget what anyone thought of her.

_Come on Lily! Be a she-cat! It doesn't matter what they think, or what they say. You know that you have good intentions, right?_ She tried to convince herself, but she wasn't so sure. She had stolen prey, and crossed lines and boundaries that weren't meant to be crossed, but she hadn't actually endangered anyone, right? But she had failed to save the white tom. She had just watched and waited as he was ki- _almost_ killed. She swallowed, as she felt a lump gathering in her throat.

_"A__lways yourself, yourself above all others, remember." Star had whispered. "__S__ave yourself, before risking your life for anyone else. Ever."_

But Lily wasn't sure anymore. Her mind told her to do as her mother said, but her heart told her different.

She felt something burning into the back of her pelt; a sharp-eyed gaze. She turned slowly, to find the bright blue eyes of the black tom with her own. It was the very tom that had let the patrol that captured her. As soon as he saw her looking, he bared his teeth, snarling. She felt her pelt burning and she dropped her gaze to her paws, trying to stop herself from growling. _Don't be such a wimp!_

So there were actually three cats that hated her.

She tried to pretend that she didn't care.

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><p><strong>Poor Lily. . . Well, if you review I will love you forever. Pleeeaaase? HMMMM? I welcome concrit! As long as you're not mean, I am happy to fix things! Just review!<strong>

**I lovez you Gumdrops; Meow for Now.**

**~Shadowmis**t


	6. The Planned Attempt

**I've got a quick chappie for you all tonight. I promise I'll give you all a longer one next time! Thank you to everyone that reviewed, especially Amber! :) See you at WillowClan!**

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><p>"Hey! Lily!"<p>

Lily sat up as Venom came trotting towards her. Her eyes were sparkling, and her tail was held high.

"I'm your guard again today, so you have someone to talk to rather than just an unmoving Rock." She purred, sitting beside Lily.

"Good." Lily gave a small smile to her guard, and put her head back onto her paws. She liked Venom a lot more than Rock, yet she wasn't really fond of anyone. The Tribe was just that, the Tribe. Her captors. Her eyes hardened. Would she be stuck here forever?

The last couple of sunrises had come and gone without any strange happenings. Rock had stayed silent, Venom had not been able to guard her besides today, and she still hadn't met the mysterious Stoneteller. He was like an unbroken shadow, always there, yet still unseen whether or not anyone spoke of him. She had started to imagine his appearance; an older tom, with a scarred, ashy-gray pelt or something; with cold, yet wise eyes. A guess, but, from what she'd heard of him, an educated one. All of the Tribe seemed to worship the ground he padded on, speaking of him with shining eyes.

She hadn't even noticed that she had fallen asleep, and woke up as something jabbed her side.

"Lily!" Venom hissed, poking her in the ribs again, "Moon wants to see you."

"Moon . . . ?" She raised her head tiredly, her gaze seeking whoever wanted to talk to her.

Standing there, was the white tom. His head was held high, his eyes distasteful. His tail tip flicked, and he swallowed, his eyes pained for a moment. Venom had left, and it was just her and the white tom.

"I never got to introduce myself. My name is Moon That Fades At Dawn." His eyes narrowed as he heard the politeness on his own tongue. Lily could tell that he wanted to hiss and spit and scream insults at her, but he was holding back for some reason.

_ Hmm . . . I wonder why?_

"Anyways, I've talked to Stoneteller, and it seems that I have been a bit hasty, no matter how many insufferable problems you have caused my tribe." His ears flattened, "however, Stoneteller, ah, does not agree with me, and I want to say that . . ." He muttered something unintelligible, looking at the ground, mutinous.

"What was that?" Lily could barely force back her smile.

"I'm sorry." He growled, his teeth bared into a snarl at his paws.

He had actually apologized. _Huh_. Lily felt bad all of a sudden. She had caused the tribe so many issues, and here there members were coming to apologize for being rude. She should have apologized for being so terrible to them in the first place. Even if the apology was forced, it was still a slight kind of hospitality.

"Thank you," she said, dropping her gaze to her paws, "I don't deserve your apologies."

Moon's bright blue eyes looked surprised for a second, before his mask of contempt flickered on again. "It's . . . okay."

"No, really. I'm sorry. I never realized that I was creating problems. I never knew why my parents always hated the Tribe . . ." Lily brow suddenly furrowed. That statement wasn't a lie. She didn't actually know why her parents always snooped around just outside of the Tribe territory. They never did anything bad, just things that were obnoxious.

"Who're you're parents?" Moon's gaze had grown skeptical. Lily's ears flattened.

"They're rogues. Ah, where rogues . . ." Her gaze fell to her paws.

"They're dead?" He asked bluntly.

Her lip curled at his rude remark, and she didn't answer.

He seemed to realize that he had struck a nerve. "S-sorry, I mean, my parents are dead too." Her gaze flickered to his face, and his moved away. "What where your parent's names?"

She didn't really think that he would care, but she answered anyway, feeling a need to talk about them to _someone_. "Bark and Star."

Suddenly, his gaze whipped around. "Star?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes . . .?"

"What did she look like?"

Lily didn't find anymore meaning in the conversation. "Why do you care?"

"Just tell me." He looked unsettled, his claws unsheathing.

"Why?"

"Please."

Lily stared at him. Why would he want to know what her mother looked like? She was just a nameless rogue to the Tribe.

"Brown, with a white chest." She rolled her eyes, wondering why Star's appearance was of any importance.

Moon's eyes widened. "Do you have any idea of your mother's past?"

Now Lily felt uncertain. ". . . no."

"It was her! Your mother is from the Tribe Lily!" His face broke into one of curiosity, "no one ever noticed her leave, and she just disappeared before dawn."

"Uh . . . what?"

"Star That Shines Bright! Don't you get it? Your mother was one of us!" Moon seemed proud of his discovery.

Lily didn't believe this. It couldn't be. Her mother . . . part of . . . _what?_ Her heartbeat felt wild in her chest. She wanted to prove him wrong. No, her mother had always been a rogue, traveling with Bark!

"Well, if she's part of your Tribe, where are all her relatives?" She challenged. No, she didn't believe this stupid story one bit.

The light in Moon's eyes suddenly faded. "You were so close. _So close._"

"What? So close to what?"

Moon looked her directly in the eyes. "Star's only living relative just went missing a few weeks ago. Sky That Brightens Slowly went hunting one day, and she never came back."

"Who was . . . Sky?"

"I think she was your mother's sister."

Lily's heartbeat suddenly sped up again. _No_. It couldn't be.

". . . what did Sky look like?"

Moon looked at her oddly. "A brown tabby. Why?"

She felt faint as the image of a dead tabby she-cat, her blood frozen in the grass, flashed to the forefront of her mind.

….

Lily couldn't take it anymore.

She was crouched in her nest while the moonlight filtered through the curtain of water that blocked the exit of the main cave. Her mind was whirling. She would have to be like a shadow, as quick as she could. Venom wouldn't stay asleep for long. Moon was also asleep outside of his den a few tail-lengths away. She couldn't wake either of them, or everything would be wasted.

_So I go up there, and trace the rock ledges,_ she thought as her gaze swept up the rocky walls of the main cave, _and then I'll have to make sure not to wake the tabby down there when I go up here,_ her tail traced the outlines of the stone formations.

When she was sure that everyone in the main cave was asleep, she lept silently to her paws. She crept along the edges of the shadows, staying out of the silvery starlight. She would not be seen. Her tail swept the sides of the rocky cave walls, and she felt a sudden chill.

Someone was watching her.

Unnerved, she turned around to find the gaze of a wizened tom sitting, hunched, in the entrance of one of the caves that led back into the mountain. His fur was thin and wispy, Lily couldn't tell whether or not it was white, gray, brown, or any other color. His eyes were bright though, and narrowed as he saw her stalk out of the cave.

_He's not stopping me._

With one more glance at the mysterious tom, she turned tail and creeped towards the splashes of moonlight.


	7. The Deadly Fever

**I'm making the chapters quite shorter, aren't I? Meh. Whatever. **

**Well, I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long! I had the most terrible writer's block, but now I'm all better. :] I will get to updating more often now.**

**I was also very busy with my collection of one-shots titled 'WillowClan's Challenge'. It's a book of all the one-shots I've entered into the WillowClan forum's Monthly Writing Challenge. Y'all should go check that out.**

**lalalalalalala~**

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><p>The ground was cold and listless under Lily's silent paws. The moon was slowly shedding it's light over her path, and she knew that she would have to change her route if the moonlight filtered over her chosen trail through the shadows of the cave. She couldn't walk through any light without being seen.<p>

She could no longer feel the eyes boring into her pelt from behind. Whoever the old tom was, she had never seen him before in her stay with the Tribe. That was strange – she was sure that she had met or at least seen everyone. She had never set eyes upon the creepy elder.

As the first ledge loomed into view, Lily took her last few steps in a couple of bounds. She had studied this particular path of rock hard, and knew where there would be pawholds. She clawed her way up the tiny cracks and ledges, and was soon crouched on the ledge of the cave wall. She once more reviewed her path, before starting up again. Everything was working perfectly.

She came to a stop as she balanced on a tiny ledge. Before her was another ledge, but she would have to make a mighty leap to get as high as she need to land properly. Below her was a tabby Cave-Guard. He was curled up with his head high in the air, but was slowly falling asleep, she knew, like he did every night. The moonlight played across his brown and ginger striped fur, making her eyes water. She unconsciously shuffled her paws, and tiny, sharp, shards of rock splintered off from underneath of the ledge.

The tom jolted awake, jumping to his paws as disturbed pieces of the ledge rained down on his back.. His head whipped around, as he was obviously trying to find the source of the stone crumbles that woke him. Lily froze, pressing her body as close as she could manage to the rock face, desperately trying to melt away from view into the shadows. But the tabby tom's eyes were slowly making their way up the rock face. When his gaze met Lily's, all she knew was that she had to get out of that cave, _now_.

"_The prisoner's escaping!_" he yowled around the cave, before shooting to the other group of Cave-Guards to fully wake them. Lily tensed for the small time that she could manage to waste, before leaping to the next ledge. She didn't time it well enough, and only her forelegs hit true, her hind legs waving unceremoniously as she tried to scramble up the rocky pathway.

Another furious yowl sounded behind her, and she couldn't think properly as blind panic took over her brain. She let herself slide off the ledge, and she fell, flailing, to the cave floor below. The second her paws touched the ground, she tore off faster than she had ever run before towards the cave entrance. She heard the thunder of both her paws and the Tribe cat's paws on the ground as she flung herself forwards towards the entrance. Yowls and screeches were ringing through the cave now, along with the terrible scratching noise of claw against stone.

She was mere tail-lengths from the path around the waterfall, when she felt claws grasp her hind legs. She faltered and stumbled, trying to wriggle out of the cat's grip, but it was like trying to get out of the paws of iron; impossible.

She turned around in desperation to see her captor. She was met with the hateful gaze of Moon's burning blue eyes.

"Moon?" Lily spat through her teeth disbelievingly.

But then she looked closer, and she found that the tom that was holding her down didn't have blindingly white fur like she thought. In fact, his fur was black.

"It's _Storm_," he growled back.

Lily looked around desperately, trying to find any way to escape. Storm had been at the head of the group, and cats were still pouring from side caves, running towards them. Lily saw the old, colorless, tom at the head of the cloud of Tribe cats. His eyes were sharp and cold, his face a mask of utmost calm.

"_Storm!_" he warned over the yowls of the cats behind him.

For a moment, Storm's grip on Lily's legs tightened terribly, and her gaze flickered with streaks of blinding white light as pain flooded her senses. And then his claws slackened, before fully letting go, and all Lily knew was that she was running again, almost stumbling, as she wound around the cold waterfall and into the starless night.

She didn't know how far she went. All she realized was that there was that there was throbbing fire in her legs, and she could no longer hear the roar of rushing water. A spindly bush was in front of her, and she stumbled towards it, before collapsing onto the sandy stone. She thought not of the fact she couldn't make it to the bush, not that there was blinding claws again in her leg, not that she couldn't hear any sounds of a Tribe search party. All she thought was that it was quite strange that Storm had let her go.

Lily slept.

….

When Lily's eyes opened again, there was sunlight spilling over her fur. She felt dizzy and woozy. She didn't immediately take in her surroundings, as there was claws of fire ripping into her hind legs. She cried out and whipped her head around to find the enemy, but found that there was no one with their claws in her wound. She inspected the torn flesh closer closer to find it angry and red.

_Infected?_

It was still bleeding slightly, and was oozing a steady flow of pus into her leg fur. She wrinkled her nose in disgust before forgetting her whereabouts as another strike of white-hot pain flashed through her. It felt as if someone was pressing a burning branch to her leg. She noticed that on her right hind leg there was only a few scratches that seemed to be healing, but it was her left that was burning with infection.

_Just great._ _I went through all that trouble to die out here alone!_ Lily started crying. _I'll soon be seeing Bark, Star, and Thorn again. . . ._

….

Lily woke up around sunhigh, and realized she didn't remember falling asleep. Her head was pounding terribly, and her mouth and throat felt dry. She looked around slowly, as moving her head seemed to make the pain worse. She assumed that she had left the stream behind, as it wasn't anywhere in sight. She felt hot. She felt so _hot_. Lily cried out. There was fire on her! It was everywhere, burning through the flesh of her leg, charring her bones. She screeched and writhed, her eyes flashing, as orange tongues of flame consumed her body.

Everything went black.

….

Lily felt terrible. Her head felt as if someone was continuously banging it with a chunk of rock. Her stomach was rocking and waving. The fire was gone, but it seemed to be inside of her now, pumping through her veins. She whimpered, laying stretched out on the stone. It was night, but the stone underneath of her wasn't cold at all. In fact, it was white-hot. The stone was burning away her fur.

She closed her eyes desperately as her stomach continued to roll around inside her body like waves in the sea. It suddenly lurched and her head rose violently as she vomited a stream of bile. When she was finished, she rolled over with a pained groan, her leg jostled by the movement. Her mouth and throat were dry, she felt like vomiting again, her leg was on fire, her head felt as if it was being banged upon like a gong - what was wrong with her?

_The infection's given me fever,_ she realized with a pang, as her vision flashed white and she lost consciousness.

….

Lily was on fire again. It was eating away at her body, her infected hind leg being the center of the torturous blaze. It was pain beyond meaning; she just wanted to die, to end the terrible torture. Nothing was worth this pain, she wanted to die, to never have been born -

The fire swooped through her senses, and Lily wanted to run before she was entirely consumed. Why hadn't she died yet? She'd been in the fire for so long! Couldn't someone take pity on her and end it?

She lay as if in a blanket of flames, washing over her again and again, burning and then receding to just her leg wound, and then burning her whole body again before flowing back to her leg. But it wasn't just cocooning her body, it was also above her, in the shape of an eagle, screeching and dipping down in its flight to rip at her leg. She cried out for it to stop, but it morphed into a great cat, wild and ferocious, clawing through her wound and opening it up to have yet more fire burning through it. And then it changed into a wolf.

Lily wondered how she couldn't die, as the wolf of fire tore into her. She felt like she was completely burned away, less then a pile of charred bones, more like flickering, white-hot ashes that should be blowing in the wind.

She just saw the wolf change into a great serpent with a crackling, fiery hiss, before her vision faded away and it struck down, its fangs bared.

….

Lily felt dry. Her body was so dry that she was melting away into sand, her mouth and throat able to wither away in the wind. She was just a shell, so hot, so dry, sand blowing and swirling through her fur.

"Hello?" Lily's voice cracked with thirst. She thought she saw shadows dancing on the edge of her vision, but when she turned to confront them, they weren't really there, it seemed.

"_Hello?_" a voice mimicked back. But it sounded wilted and lifeless, bouncing off the rocky walls. It was almost . . . echoing.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Lily was trembling from fear and exhaustion.

"_Show yourself!_"

"I'm warning you!"

"_Warning you!_"

Lily suddenly realized that the voice was in her head. "Help!" she screeched.

"_Help! Help, help, help!_" the voice was taunting.

Everything fell away.

….

When Lily woke next, she felt as if she would die of thirst. Her throat was scorching, and, though there was no fire, it burned. She realized that she would die if she didn't find water soon.

Lily started dragging herself over the rock in search of the stream. The stone was cold again, like it was normally before she had the fever. She half limped, half dragged her wounded leg, her eyes burning in the white sunlight. All there seemed to be around were endless rock, patterns of cliff faces, ledges, hills, and walls. The desolate land of stone started to blur, and she barely saw anything anymore.

When Lily felt as if her paws were worn into the rock, she came to a cliff. The ground feel away from the path in front of her, and she stopped short, her head throbbing dully in time with her leg wound. She saw a sea of green below, the tops of trees so far down. A river was winding it's way through the forest, and Lily thought it worth it to jump if she would hit the river.

She turned away from the cliff and continued on, her mouth open to any scent of freshness in the air. She was on a rocky slope, piles of gravel scattered around her pawsteps. She suddenly smelt something – something that hinted of wind and rivers and something slightly green.

_Water._

Lily forgot about her wound, and dragged her leg as fast as she could down the slope. At the bottom of the hill there was a tiny pool of water, barely a tail-length across. Lily laughed happily despite her scorching throat and feverish head, and dipped her body down to drink.

When she felt as if she would burst, Lily lay down beside the pool. She felt as if she had never been so regenerated. She had gotten used to the throb of infected pain in her wound, but it seemed to have lessened. She lay her leg inside the pool and fell asleep again, feeling better than she had for what seemed like forever.

….

Lily was awoken by the sound of voices. At first she was annoyed at them waking her, but suddenly realized the danger as she heard Storm's growl among them. The Tribe had come.

". . . it must have killed you, Storm, to have to let her go." This was accompanied by the laughs of others.

"Shut _up_." It was Storm. Lily scrambled to her paws, flinching as her leg flashed with agony. She limped to a crevice in the rock wall and wriggled into the shadows.

"Why d'you think Stoneteller made you let the prisoner escape?" Lily's ears flattened. _What?_

"That is between Stoneteller and the Tribe of Endless Hunting," Storm growled.

They had _let_ her escape.

_What?_

As the voices faded off into the distance, Lily fumed in the shadows of the crevice. All that work, to find that she was _let_ escape? Why? Why didn't they just keep her? Atleast she would still have her dignity intact!

Lily slowly crept out of the crevice and paused warily in a crouch, her ears erect and alert to any sounds of the patrol approaching. When she heard nothing unusual, her ears flattened again, and she limped off into the fading light.

Lily didn't know how long she walked. The moon rose high into the indigo sky, and stars splashed themselves far and wide. When Lily rose her head to look a the phase, she realized that it was full. That meant that she had had the fever for over five sunrises. She shuddered. Atleast it seemed to finally be leaving her. There was another steep hill in front of her, and she could hardly climb to the top with pain in her wound. It would be awhile until she was better.

When Lily finally stumbled to the top of the hill, she wished she hadn't drank that much water. At the sight of what was laying to meet her at the bottom of the slope, she immediately emptied her stomach of its contents. It was the smell of blood in the air, it was the sight of red splattered fur.

Rock, her guard from the Tribe, lay twisted and lifeless at the bottom of the slope, his gray fur soaked in his own lifeblood.

A wolf stepped from the shadows, its fur thick and matted, its gaze filled with loathing.

"_We're coming for you_," it growled metallically, with a voice like claws scraping across stone.

It seemed to melt towards her like darkness, and she didn't have any time to run away as its paw came down on her head.

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><p><strong>DUN DUN DUUUN.<strong>

**I liek it. :3**

**So Lily had a couple hallucinations, eh?**

**~reenakitty**


	8. The Twist of Fate

**Hai. Updating will get more regular. I PROMISE.**

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><p>The air was musty and full of dust, when Lily's eyes opened once more. Her head pounded so badly, that all she wanted to do was fall back under. No wind seemed to reach where she was curled, cramped, in the darkness. There was always wind in the mountains – she must have been put somewhere more sheltered.<p>

Then there was the matter of the wolf. It didn't seem to be here at the moment, but that could probably change in a second. Lily shuddered, and her shoulder cramped. It was hardly pressed into what felt like ice-cold stone. When she moved it, her muscles groaned. She whimpered. Lily hadn't moved in awhile. How long had she been unconscious?

Something stirred near her. She could feel the vibrations through the closely packed stone pressing against her. Hot, rancid breath was on her flank.

Lily turned around slowly, her whole body crying out as her stiffness was abruptly softened. Her leg wound throbbed. When she had turned fully so that the breath was on her forelegs, she saw a speck of light in the distance. But it was blocked by something very large. Something with rotting breath, and thick, coarse fur.

The wolf. It was right there.

It had threatened her – that she could remember. But when it had said 'you' she felt as if it was meaning something more than just her. The Tribe. It was threatening to come for the Tribe, and thought that she was a part of it. Lily almost hissed in agitation before remembering that the very wolf was in front of her.

How was she going to get behind it? Because the light was certainly behind the wolf. There was either very little or no space to get passed it. Was it awake? That was the key question.

Lily's mind was racing, even though she just woke up. Survival instincts were pounding through her veins, each attempt plan more crazy than the next.

Slowly, _slowly_, Lily edged towards it. The rancid scent got worse every tiny step she took. The breath billowed over her in waves, and she resisted gagging. Lucky there was nothing left in her stomach, or she would have been sick again from the terrible fear that choked her throat.

She inched slowly towards the wall of black fur. It was rising and falling slowly, each exhale accompanied by another wave of crow-food scent. She pressed herself against the cave wall, away from the wolf, wishing her head would stop hurting so badly. When she was within and inch of the murderous animal, she realized that there was still a mouse-length of floor beside its body and the wall. The tunnel had widened out immensely, as, before, it had barely had enough room for Lily, yet alone a wolf the size of a bear.

She edged along beside it, shivering violently as she did so. One pawstep placed exactly in front of the other, her paws trembling. There was only a couple tail-lengths to go, she was almost passed the wolf. Then she would be free to run with the wind in her fur, to go wherever she pleased. A spasm of pain flashed through her wounded hind leg and she winced. Maybe she _wouldn't_ be able to run quite too soon.

Just a pawstep in front of the other. Only a tail-length left to go. The wolf was facing the light, and as the pinprick got brighter in the distance, Lily saw its head. It was asleep.

She closed the distance, and then she was running – ignoring the pain in her leg and the dizziness in her head, and just sprinting full out towards the bright little bead at the end of the tunnel that was growing nearer and nearer with every stride –

Lily didn't even notice the moment when she stopped running and was slammed to the ground. All she found, was that she there was such blinding pain in her leg, that she wanted to kill something. Eyes watering, her gaze flashed to see the wolf pinning her down by sinking its talons into her wound. The torn, red flesh had started to heal, but was now reopening. She screeched and writhed and cried out, and almost didn't hear the terrible, guttural growl of the wolf.

"You go warn your little Tribe that we're comin' for 'em, see? Or we'll know it."

She barely even realized that this wolf wasn't fully black like the other one. This wolf had a white muzzle and white paws – there were _two_ murderous wolves. The wolf had said 'we'.

Lily was dragging herself towards the light. Her leg was bleeding anew, and the wolf had already vanished into the shadows. She was sobbing uncontrollably, her entire body shaking. She had been let go mere seconds before.

When Lily got to the light, she had stopped crying. The sunlight was blinding, branding her eyes into her scull. She whimpered and closed them, sinking onto the ground. She didn't have the energy to look up and check that the wolf wasn't coming for her, all she wanted to do was sleep.

But she dragged herself to her paws and started limping. Where she was going, she was not quite sure.

….

Lily collapsed beside the gorse bush, her sides heaving. She wondered how she had found her den. Instinct, she guessed. She hadn't seen it since she had almost drowned in the tunnels.

She slowly pulled herself to her paws again, and limped under the gorse bush. She ducked down inside the tunnels and felt the familiar darkness press down on her pelt. The walls of rock and dirt was moist, the floor lined with small pools of water. None of the tunnels were submerged anymore, thank the stars, but there was a more earthy feel to the ancient walls, making it smell more dank, and the ground feeling quite wet underpaw.

Lily slowly found her way up the sloping curve of the tunnel, and into her den. She ducked into the stone cave and glanced around warily at the watery surroundings. The water dip was almost overflowing, trickles streaming down the sharp, rocky sides. Her nest up on the ledge was a sopping pile of almost unrecognizable material (It used to be rabbit fur). Everything else seemed to have been washed away, the bare, empty cavern echoing with the sound of water droplets splashing on the floor.

Lily had to think. She limped to the ledge, and then then up the steps to where her nest lay. She curled up and rested her tail on her nose, trying to ignore the dampness sinking into her fur. Her den no longer held the cheery air of a home, but smelt of dank waters and earth and shadows. It was no longer a place to live.

The hole in the roof that usually spilled sunlight into the den was strangely dark, only a bit of filtered shadows breaking through what appeared to be packed earth over the opening. Lily wondered when the wolves would go for the Tribe. Apparently, she was supposed to warn them today, as the wolf had probably assumed her home was with the Tribe. What if they would attack the Tribe _tomorrow_?

_Than the Tribe will be one less thorn in my side,_ Lily thought grimly.

But when she imagined the torn body of Rock again, her stomach twisted sickeningly. He had obviously been recently dead, blood flowing from his open mouth and gaping wounds. She imagined Moon stretched out by Rock's side, his mouth slack, his eyes wide and lifeless. Venom, a trickle of blood running from her muzzle, her mouth open in a silent and never ending scream.

Shivering, Lily burrowed her face deeper into her own fluffy tail. The only one of the small circle of cats she knew that she wouldn't miss, was Storm. Him with his glares and razor sharp tongue, finding something wrong with her only because she existed. Sure, she had problems, but the only one of them that he knew of was the fact that she had been taken prisoner. How could he hate her so much, with the little time he had lurked in the shadows, watching her? So little time, yet so much dislike filling his burning blue eyes.

Would Lily warn the Tribe? She felt like hitting herself for even letting thoughts of it swirl in her mind. She hated the Tribe – didn't she? All those times that she had played pranks and spied on them with acidic feelings in her heart. She didn't even know herself why she hated them so much, but her mother had always insisted with a burning passion, that the Tribe was no more than a group of spineless worms, crouching in filth. Already, Lily was beginning to doubt Star's words. The Tribe wasn't that bad. . . .

_What am I thinking?_ Lily's head shot up in shock at the realization in her thoughts. _I hate the Tribe, just as my mother before me! I always have. Why am I getting doubts now? I was a prisoner for stars sake!_

Then she remembered her Storm's hate-filled gaze. Yes, she did hate the Tribe. She was delirious now, she had had the fever for several sunrises, and she had only just started to get better. There was reasons for her twisted thoughts. The Tribe was what her mother had told her, a filthy group of cats that didn't know what would be coming for them the next day.

Lily pushed down the bitter doubt that was clogging her throat, and fell asleep, trying to convince herself that she didn't care.

….

When Lily woke, she had no idea whether it was day or night. With the hole in the roof completely black, there was no evidence showing whether darkness had actually fallen, or that a cloud had perhaps roved over the sun.

Lily got to her paws, stretching deeply as he felt stiff as a plane of rock. For a blissful moment, she forgot all her worried thoughts of the Tribe, and only thought to go out hunting. Then everything from before she fell asleep came rushing back – the Tribe, Storm, Venom, Moon, love, hate, loyalty, and confusion. She didn't know what to think.

Pain in her leg wound flared. Lily gasped, and almost crumpled to the sandy floor. What would happen with her leg? It seemed to not wish to heal. Her eyes flashed to the wound, and she grimaced with pain and discomfort as she saw the angry red, torn flesh. It still looked infected. If the infection set in completely, she would die. It was already a miracle that she had survived the fever and then the aftermath of it. It was a wonder she was still breathing.

Storm had given this to her. He had been the one to tear open her leg so terribly as she was '_let_' escape. He was the one to render her such pain and helplessness. Lily's eyes hardened, and her lips pulled unconsciously back into a snarl.

Nevertheless, the Tribe had been kind to her. Even the one's whose names she didn't know, they had treated her very well for all the things she had done to them. They might not have known it was her that had stolen all the prey, and all the countless other things, but they had an inkling, she knew. They weren't as stupid as she had once thought.

_ Can I even trust my own thoughts anymore? I thought I hated the Tribe._

Even though she had hated them before, she now realized that she had grown somewhat attached to her life with the Tribe. They may have once been enemies, but Lily knew that she wouldn't feel quite the same way if she let the wolves exterminate them.

With this grim thought, Lily started up through the tunnels. Once outside, she headed for the steep, rocky wall that she had climbed so many times before. Clawing herself up it, and growling through leg pain, she began to listen for rushing water.

….

When Lily first heard the sound of the thundering waterfall, in some ways she relaxed, for she felt a strange sense of home. In others she tensed up, terrified of what the Tribe would think of her turning up again.

She stopped at entrance to the slick path behind the waterfall. She couldn't hear any voices protruding from the cave, but that was most likely do to the tremulous noise of roaring water that pressed down on Lily's eardrums.

Lily pressed her ears to her head and shut her eyes, wishing that she could have been caught again, rather than be coming back at her own will. Incredulous that she would feel this way, she ground her teeth and tried to calm her stomach, as it had now started to do very painful acrobatics. It was so embarrassing for her, to let herself slink back like this, after such a pitiful escape. They had let her go because of the probable nuisance she had been, and she was now crawling back into their cave and providing them with further troubles. Her lips pulled back and her eyes opened sharply, as her throat clenched. _I have to be strong – not a stupid whining kit._

She entered the passage behind the rushing water slowly, unable o move her gaze from her paws. They would be on her in mere seconds, she was so close to their home. She would give herself to them immediately, of course, so what was the point of being silent now? She snarled silently to herself, miserable on the inside that she was acting with such shame and cowardice.

Being careful to keep her balance, Lily continued forward until the path was more dry. She could hear a small whisper of what was most likely the voices of the Tribe beyond the roar of the water. Her entire body was tense, every string of muscle stretched taught like live wires. Every beat of her heart pounded deafeningly in her ears, reminding her of the thud of waves against a shore. She couldn't remember when she had been more nervous. She was almost fearful. Almost.

Lily could definitely hear chatter now. The sounds bounced off the walls and hit her in the face, full of voices she had almost forgotten. Suddenly, in burst of longing, she took the last two pawsteps that led her straight into the entrance to the main cave.

Instantaneously, the voices stopped, and one hundred pairs of eyes turned to gleam accusingly at her.

"What_–_?"

"Why is she here?"

"We let her go!"

"Is she stupid?"

The coursing voices broke out all of a sudden, sounding over the roar of water. Lily flattened her ears to her head, her fur growing hot. How could she have been so stupid? Just bursting into the cave like an utter beetle-brain! She hissed quietly to herself. Just one stroke of longing, and she had already staggered into the cave like an idiot before she could compose herself.

"_Silence!_" a deep voice caterwauled. Immediately, the voices fell silent, and she was again left with just hundreds of gleaming eyes. It was like a city of lights, a web of sparkling green, brown, blue, amber, and yellow.

A cat pushed his way forward through the crowd. She took one look at him, and felt she couldn't look away from his piercing bright gaze. It contrasted to his fur, which was wispy and colorless. His shoulders were hunched with age, but he moved surprisingly quickly as he stalked towards her. It was he that who watched her escape.

He stopped several tail-lengths away, and sat, still hunched. Together, he and Lily glared at each other. His gaze was cold and calm, but Lily felt cheated. This was the one that had let her escape, the tom that had so quietly kept out of sight, but was still able to order Storm around like no other could. The one that had cost Lily her dignity.

"What has brought you back here? Do you wish to still be imprisoned?" His voice was soft, so unlike the booming tone he had used a few seconds early, hushing the crowd of watchers.

"Stoneteller, why is she here?" someone from the crowd asked quietly.

Lily's composure trembled for a moment. All she wanted was to curl up somewhere in a nest and cry. Her leg was burning with agony, her vision was blurred with tears, and her emotions were all out of balance. She had survived a terrible fever, escaped a horrible death by a mouse-length, and seen the death of someone she knew – and for what? To be crawling back to the good-for-nothing Tribe to push her further to the edge of insanity. She had almost had enough.

Almost.

"I have something to tell you."

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><p><strong>Yay! I had such terrible writer's block, but now it's finished! :D<strong>

**This story has very little viewers, (and that might be partially my fault) and it would be nice if anyone told their friends about this story, if they liked it. Show Lily some love!  
><strong>

**And don't forget to review! Thanks for everything, guys! :D  
><strong>

**~reenakitty  
><strong>


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